Bust

Keats House at Guy's - bust 1 - William Harvey

Erection date: 1863

The collar, the hair-line, the facial growths - we hope you agree that this is Harvey.

Site: Keats House at Guy's (4 memorials)

SE1, St Thomas Street, 24-26, Keats House

The ground floor of the right-hand side is used as a doctor's surgery and we asked at reception for information about the building. A lady there was very helpful, telling us that it was built in 1863 as part of nearby Guy's Hospital. However, they have tried and failed to discover the identity of the busts. And we've struggled.

These busts are displayed in the arches above the first floor windows. On the second floor the same spaces above the two outer windows carry a shield device with a circular belt "dare quam accipere" - Guy's Hospital's motto, "it is better to give than to receive".

We'd expect the heads to show men either connected with Guy's Hospital and/or medicine more generally, with Thomas Guy and John Keats being very likely candidates. Bust 2 could be either of them but Keats is consistently shown with a centre parting which suggests number 2 represents Thomas Guy, but we are not certain.

The last two seem to be in Greek-Roman togas. In images Hippocrates is almost always bald and bearded so he could be number 3. And so we expected number 4 to represent Galen but he is never shown with such wild hair so we are stumped.

Surprisingly the building does not seem to be Listed, so no help there. Assistance needed.

2018: Phil Sutters came to the rescue. He pointed us to the excellent book 'Public Sculpture of South London' by Terry Cavanagh. Here our William Harvey and Hippocrates are confirmed. Sir Astley Paston Cooper is strongly suggested for bust 4. Portraits of him on-line show the same swept-back hair, long nose and slightly bulging eyes - we're convinced. But Cavanagh has nothing to offer for Bust 2. Phil thinks it must be (a late, and not well) Keats (given the name of the building) but we think it could equally well be Thomas Guy (compare with his statue at Guy's Hospital) although Phil points out that the clothing is anachronistic. It actually doesn't look much like either of them (meaning their portraits available on-line) so it could be another man entirely. Cavanagh gives the sculptor of all four busts as J. W. Seale, with the building designed by Newman & Billing.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Keats House at Guy's - bust 1 - William Harvey

Subjects commemorated i

William Harvey

Born at Folkestone, Kent. Discovered and proved the circulation of the blood.

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Keats House at Guy's - bust 1 - William Harvey

Created by i

John Wesley Seale

Sculptor. Born Wiltshire. His son, J. H. G. and his grandsons, J. H. and A. B...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Keats House at Guy's - bust 1 - William Harvey

Also at this site i

Keats House at Guy's - bust 2 - Thomas Guy?

Keats House at Guy's - bust 2 - Thomas Guy?

We are not certain of the identification.

Read More

Keats House at Guy's - bust 3 - Hippocrates

Keats House at Guy's - bust 3 - Hippocrates

We are reasonbly happy with our identifcation of this head.

Read More

Keats House at Guy's - bust 4 - Astley Paston Cooper

Keats House at Guy's - bust 4 - Astley Paston Cooper

Apologies for the lack of focus on this one - partly due to the carving being...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Jellicoe bust

Jellicoe bust

WC2, Trafalgar Square

Left to right these busts are: Cunningham, Jellicoe and Beatty, that well known legal firm. (Unusually there is an error in the Margaret ...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Bernardo O’Higgins bust

Bernardo O’Higgins bust

TW9, O’Higgins Square

This bust, erected 200 years after O'Higgins left Richmond, was designed by Echenique (the plinth and setting presumably) but, according ...

1 subject commemorated, 5 creators
Caxton Hall - head 3 - Shakespeare

Caxton Hall - head 3 - Shakespeare

SW1, Caxton Street, 10, Caxton Hall

The foundation stone is low down at the right hand side of the building. Above each of the two statues is a bust, both of the Greek god v...

1 subject commemorated
Grosvenor Hotel - head 08 - Prince Albert

Grosvenor Hotel - head 08 - Prince Albert

SW1, Buckingham Palace Road, Grosvenor Hotel

This 1860 building, by architect James Knowles Snr, is studded with many portrait busts of which we believe only these 14 are representat...

1 subject commemorated
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman bust

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman bust

E1, Sidney Street, 5, Awami League

We cannot discover the name of the sculptor, unless that is Fuhad Ahmed Farahad, about whom we can find nothing. December 16 is Victory ...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators

Previously viewed

London Coliseum

London Coliseum

Built as a, very large, variety theatre by Oswald Stoll using architect Frank Matcham. It experienced some ups and downs financially and then in the early sixties suffered the indignity of conversi...

Building, Theatre

1 memorial
LSHTM - Lewis

LSHTM - Lewis

WC1, Gower Street, School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

This listed building was designed by Vernor Rees in 1926, one of the first steel-framed buildings ever erected. The balconies are decorat...

1 subject commemorated
Robert Ferrier

Robert Ferrier

Role on the lost expedition: Able seaman on SS Erebus. See John Franklin.

Person, Exploring, Tragedy

1 memorial
John Hartnell

John Hartnell

Role on the lost expedition: Able seaman on SS Erebus. See John Franklin.

Person, Exploring, Tragedy

1 memorial
Our Lady of the Assumption Deptford

Our Lady of the Assumption Deptford

Originally founded as a mission in 1842, it was built to serve the local Catholic community, many of whom had come from Ireland to work on the railways and in the shipyards. 

Building, Religion

1 memorial